Cast Iron & Homemaking. How to Season & Clean! Building Your Home Economy. 

My "baby skillet" is a my only piece of vintage cast iron, a hand-me-down from my grandmother (may she rest in peace). The skillet is over 100 years old and still working great. We use it for a small amount of scrambled eggs, for making skillet cornbread (yum!) or making German apple cake.

I have a baby skillet like that that I keep bacon grease in. I keep it covered with a flat cast iron bacon press. I use said bacon grease to season my cast iron and cook with it too.

Carbon Steel is another good option. It's essentially the Cast Iron of Europe. It works the same way with seasoning, only difference is it's lighter weight and heats up a little quicker. Thought I would share! Thank you for all of your videos! They have been a blessing to me.

The little egg pans are fun I have one. They make a bacon press, a pig lol for your griddle as well. You can also usually find a lot of pieces at the second hand stores for cheap cause they are usually rusted, which is no problem.

I just came across your channels and let me tell you what a breath of fresh air y’all are! Thank you! 😊

Thank you for making this video as I had requested it a while back :) I look forward to starting my cast iron collection now as I feel more confident after watching this!

I watched that video you mentioned & oh my goodness!! I had no idea, we were already wanting to switch stainless steel & cast iron & now even more so. Plus I want to switch to all glass storage etc. Thank you for doing this are sharing this information!

My family used cast iron mainly for camping. We use welding gloves instead of oven mitts for cooking over the fire with cast iron. They work great too!

I love the cast iron grill pan it’s great in the winter :) great video!

Thank you for recommending me to this video! I’ve learned so much. I use chainmail to clean mine now but I will be getting me a lodge eraser and scraper! 🖤

I use a stainless steel scrubbie, not steel wool, for a quick rinse and scrub. I love that thing and even use it on glass casserole pans to get off baked on grunge. Might work for your enamel ware? Then dry my pan on the stove and use butter. Butter has been the best for non stick in our experience. I cook a ton with butter as the oil too.

I use clay pots. It's extremely economical. When converted to $ it would be 0.66 cents for an 8inch diameter pot. A 14inch would be only $1.50. Of course it's breakable just like a ceramic plate would, but I've used mine for years without a problem.

I use a magic eraser for my enameled Dutch oven, takes some scrubbing still but it actually cleans it fairly easily!!🤗

Thanks for making such practical videos!

I'm not sure if it is the right way, but I get my enameled cast iron clean by placing them in the oven on the cleaning setting. It basically burns off all of the brown stuff and cleans the oven at the same time.

I did the same thing with over oiling it on one of the coats of seasoning. Good to know I don’t need to fix it!!

Thank you for this video! I love cast iron! Off question: Kelly, can you share what camera you use?

Thank you so much for this video! Just checked out hibid and found some greast deals in my area! ❤

I definitely have a cast iron skillet that I am too afraid to use! This was so helpful! Thanks Kelli!

I just came across you a few days ago and I'm really enjoying your videos. This video was so good. I bought cast iron 3 years ago and messed up too. I'm excited to take my pan out and get it functional!

Love cast iron! Like you, I had fear of using them when I was a young wife! Now I own three different sizes of the pan, two pots (for sourdough bread baking) and a meatloaf pan. All from Lodge. I usually just heat up a little water in the pan for the stubborn food burns and then wash as usual. It helps to make lighter work on the scrubbing part. ;) and the little water would not harm the pan. After each wash I would return it to the stovetop and heat dry the pan before lightly oiling it with olive oil. I am happy to see another cast iron user! Oh, did you have a sourdough pizza crust recipe that you would use in the cast iron? I would love it if you are willing to share. :) I have been using your sourdogh crepes recipe and absolutely love it!

I got my favorite cast-iron pan at a garage sale for one dollar. It was covered in rust, but cleaned up beautifully.

Cast iron is amazing! I use the la Creuset cleaner or bar keepers friend to clean my enameled cast-iron. But it takes a lot of patience and gentle elbow grease to get out the stains.

I was blessed with a Carolina cooker enamel set. I had one that didn't get enameled right for some reason. They have a lifetime warranty for their products. I called them about the pot and they honored their warranty and sent me a new enamel pot. The new one is going on 3 years now with no issues.

I love using cast iron as well! I use my dutch oven for sourdough bread, soups, and cooking whole chicken. A favorite side dish is add butter in a skillet, add green beans, minced garlic (or powdered if feeling lazy, lol) and onion powder. Saute till soft. My mother-in-law made them for me with salmon and they are my favorite side dish now! I use flaxseed when first seasoning my cast iron, as the smell of the coconut oil smoking made me feel sick, and we don't have a kitchen fan. It was recommended on another RU-vid channel (Cowboy Kent Rollins). Day to day I use avocado oil, I heat up the pan first and then add the oil, rub it on with paper towel, and then let it cool before hanging it back up. On days I didn't oil it after use, I heat the pan and oil it before I cook whatever I'm making so it won't stick. Even if I'm starting out with butter, I'll oil the pan and rub it in before proceeding with the recipe I'm making. I've found that helps when I skipped the night before.

I have a cast iron skillet from my grandmother; so you’re right about generational tools! I didn’t know there was such a stick/eraser, I was just taught to use a stainless steel scrubber. We’ve also seasoned our pans outside on a fire to avoid smoking out the house cause sometimes that smells lingers long! 🤢

I treat my cast iron a little rough, not gonna lie. I’ve had it for about 6 years now and if it happens to get a little rusty, then I reseason it. I’ll even wash it if it’s really dirty with soap and water and just warm it on the stove with a little butter or oil. Loveeeee cast iron!!!!

I noticed when I was using cast iron for spaghetti sauce, it really affected the flavor of the sauce. But I think it was because I misused the cast iron and it had some sort of food build-up that was ending up in my dishes...

Hi Kelli! In one of your videos you mentioned that you and Scott follow the Ray Peat way of eating. Could you do a video on this? I’d love to hear about your results and if you recommend this. Thanks!

Definitely need to re-season our cast irons. I have a “cookie sheet” cast iron similar to yours we use it a lot for pancakes, tortillas, grilled cheese. On a regular basis after you dry your cast iron and apply your oil, do you heat it up again? I just heat mine dry and then apply the oil but not sure if I’m doing that wrong.

What brand of enameled Dutch oven is your’s?